Up at 7am this morning, calm mostly cloudy weather, low 50’s out. No rain. So far so good.
A nice leisurely morning, with a couple cups of coffee, some muffins & cheerios for breakfast, along with some time checking emails. Around 10:00 I made myself a roast beef sandwich and with soda and potato salad in a cooler bag, was ready for lunch on the trail.
I took off for Ebey’s Landing trailhead, about 4 miles north, which had a few people there, but still some open parking. Took my bottle of water with me, for a roundtrip hike up on the bluff one way, walking down on the beach the other way, the total of which was supposed to be a little over 5 miles. Hit the trail right at 1100.
It was warm enough in the slight breeze, so I was comfortable with my vest on going into the breeze, took it off on the way back. There wasn’t much in the way of altitude gain, maybe a couple hundred feet, so it was an easy hike.
I got back to the car about 1220, about 1:20 total time, which was far shorter in time than it felt while I was out there; but I was moving a steady speed, with only a couple of brief stops to take pictures.
There were no picnic tables near the parking area that I could see, so from there I drove back to Fort Casey to eat my lunch. Maybe a dozen cars there, not a lot of people but pleasant. Ate on a picnic table by the car, then went for an hours walk around the fort. There was a closed area where a construction crew is cleaning and painting some of the fort, presumably to preserve it so it doesn’t continue to rust and deteriorate. What they’ve done so far really looks pretty nice.
Got back to the house about 230, had a beer and sat outside on the deck. It remains fairly calm, only a slight northwesterly breeze, which, in the partly cloudy skies, is just not quite warm enough to stay outside for too long in shorts and short sleeves.
A little more about the house. It sleeps 6 in 3 bedrooms with 3 king size beds. There is a MEADE brand spotting scope for watching vessel activity. We’ve seen a number of tugs with barges going thru and a few container ships. Friday afternoon or Saturday should bring some cruise ships going north towards Alaska. In the small “media room” (seating for only 4)there is a curved 48″ Samsung TV with basic cable and some internet based channels(Netflix/amazon/etc). They also have fairly high speed internet. They have a Keurig coffee machine which is good for a coffee making device, and we’re enjoying it for its convenience, but which in our opinion is not environmentally friendly, too wasteful with plastic garbage that is generated. Most of the appliances are LG brand, they probably got a deal on all. Adequate but not impressed. There is a Weber gas grill on the patio which has a hose connected to the main propane tank. We’re cooking chicken tonight. There is a triangle firepit on the patio.
We plan to make a fire at some point. The master bedroom is on the opposite side of the house from the two guest rooms. The master bath and guest bath are completely separate from the bedrooms, so anyone can use them as needed. There is space for four vehicles to park, three spaces by two garage doors, and one on the street. There is inside and outside seating for a couple dozen, but the owners generally want no more than 6 because of the capacity of the septic system. Eh. For short timespan, a few more shouldn’t be any problem. Each room in the house has its own baseboard heating with thermostat, so in cool weather the temperature can be tailored to each individual taste.
For dinner, Wendy grilled chicken and vegetables on the weber. Wonderful food. After supper I put on my cheap water slippers and waded into the water on the beach, just up to my knees, its was COLD! Came back out and did it again within a few minutes. Then went in and took a hot shower.:-)
3 minute YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/7AOP4wub914